Handgun Access – NYC Youth Violence Survey

Abstract

The Handgun Access—NYC Youth Violence Survey (HA-NYCYVS) is a specialized public health surveillance instrument designed to quantify the prevalence of handgun accessibility and its associated risk factors among adolescents and young adults residing in high-density urban environments. Developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and notably implemented by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYC DOHMH), the survey provides critical insights into behavioral and environmental correlates of violence.

For instance, the 2018 iteration, which sampled 1,500 youth aged 14–24 in New York City, demonstrated that approximately 20% of respondents reported access to a handgun, a factor significantly correlated with increased engagement in violent acts such as physical fighting and weapon carrying. These findings are foundational for developing evidence-based public health interventions and policies aimed at reducing illegal handgun access and mitigating youth violence.

Keywords

Handgun Access, Youth Violence, Public Health Surveillance, CDC, Adolescent Health, Weapon Carrying, Delinquency, Policy Intervention, New York City

Authors

Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH), Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Purpose

The primary function of the HA-NYCYVS is twofold: first, establishing precise and reliable estimates regarding the scope and nature of handgun accessibility among adolescents and young adults, particularly within intense urban settings like New York City. This quantitative data is essential for understanding the scale of the problem and informing resource allocation.

Second, the survey is designed to identify the specific mechanisms and pathways through which young people acquire firearms, ranging from family sources to illegal street purchases or theft. By mapping these sources, public health officials can develop highly targeted, evidence-based policy interventions and educational programs aimed at reducing the risk factors that contribute to gun violence in the community. Furthermore, the instrument captures youth attitudes towards school safety measures, such as the implementation of metal detectors, providing vital context for security policy decisions.

Construct

The HA-NYCYVS is structured to measure the comprehensive construct of Weapon Accessibility and Violence Risk Factors. Unlike traditional scales measuring a single latent psychological trait, this instrument functions as a behavioral assessment module, operationalizing the construct through several distinct, yet interconnected, domains.

These domains cover both the behavioral reality of access and the perceptual factors influencing safety attitudes. The key operational components include:

• Direct Handgun Access: Measures the immediate ability of the youth to obtain or possess a handgun, reflecting current accessibility status.

• Source of Acquisition: Focuses on the pathways through which firearms are obtained, categorizing access via family members, theft, or illicit street purchase.

• Violence Correlates: Assesses recent engagement in high-risk behaviors, including physical altercations and the carrying of non-handgun weapons.

• School Safety Attitudes: Gauges the respondent’s opinions and perceptions regarding preventative security measures, notably the use of metal detectors within school environments.

Validity

As a specialized module derived from established public health surveillance instruments—such as those utilized by the CDC‘s Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS)—the HA-NYCYVS demonstrates strong inherent Content Validity and Face Validity. The items were meticulously developed by leading subject matter experts in adolescent health, injury prevention, and violence research, ensuring that the instrument comprehensively covers key behavioral and environmental indicators relevant to handgun access risk.

Although dedicated, stand-alone psychometric validation reports for this specific short module are uncommon, its practical utility supports its Criterion-Related Validity. Empirical findings consistently demonstrate a robust and significant correlation between reported handgun access and measurable high-risk behaviors, including elevated rates of fighting, weapon carrying, and exposure to violence. This predictive power confirms the instrument’s effectiveness in measuring behaviors associated with severe youth violence risk.

Reliability

Given the HA-NYCYVS’s design as a collection of distinct, sensitive behavioral items rather than a measure of a single latent trait, conventional metrics of internal consistency (such as Cronbach’s alpha) are not typically calculated or reported for the overall scale. The items are designed to measure separate facets of access, attitude, and behavior.

However, for specialized public health surveillance tools of this nature, high Test-Retest Reliability is generally expected. This assumes that the underlying behavioral patterns being reported by the target population remain stable over short periods. To maximize response stability and ensure high inter-rater reliability during data collection and coding, the instrument prioritizes exceptionally clear, concise, and unambiguous item phrasing.

Factor Analysis

Formal Factor Analysis is typically not applied to the specific six-item HA-NYCYVS module. The instrument is intentionally composed of questions covering discrete, albeit related, functional areas—such as the perceived source of a weapon, the ability to obtain one, carrying behavior, and attitudes toward school security measures.

The intended analysis methodology is item-level assessment or the creation of simple, descriptive indices (e.g., an “Access Index” versus a “Safety Attitude Index”). Explicit scoring directions often clarify that the items are intended to be scored individually, reinforcing the instrument’s purpose as a rapid behavioral surveillance tool rather than a psychometric scale requiring the derivation of a single, multi-factor latent score.

Instrument

Test Type: Public Health Surveillance Survey / Behavioral Risk Assessment

Format: Self-report questionnaire, consisting primarily of multiple-choice items.

Language Available: English (Primary language of administration in NYC)

Population Group: Urban Youth and Adolescents

Age Group: 14–24 years (as used in the 2018 NYC DOHMH study)

Population Details: Youth residing in high-density urban environments, specifically New York City. The 2018 administration involved a targeted sample size of 1,500 youth.

Test Methodology: Cross-sectional survey methodology. Responses are discrete and categorical, primarily intended to measure prevalence rates for specific access behaviors and attitudes.

Keywords

Adolescent Health, Weapon Access, CDC, Violence Prevention, Policy Intervention, School Safety, Delinquency, Risk Behavior, Gun Control

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not applicable (Institutional author: CDC/DASH)

Affiliation Email addresses: Contact the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH) for official correspondence.

Correspondence Address: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The HA-NYCYVS was developed institutionally by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). As a government-developed tool intended for non-commercial research and public health interventions, it is generally considered to be in the public domain, provided appropriate citation and acknowledgment are used. Users are advised to verify current usage policies directly with the CDC or the administering local health department (NYC DOHMH).

There are typically no fees associated with the utilization of this instrument. The original framework and core items were established in the 1993 New York City Youth Violence Survey published by the CDC. A significant and widely cited subsequent administration was conducted in 2018 by the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

Reference’s

The foundational reference for the instrument is the original 1993 publication:

• Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH), Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. New York City Youth Violence Survey. Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1993.

The specific items of the HA-NYCYVS (found on pages 234-235) are included in the comprehensive volume, Measuring Violence-Related Attitudes, Behaviors, and Influences Among Youths: A Compendium of Assessment Tools. The original PDF compilation can be downloaded here: http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/YV_Compendium.pdf.

Items of the Handgun Access – NYC Youth Violence Survey

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

1. Where do most students who carry handguns get them from?

1. Parent or other family member’s handgun taken from home
2. Purchased from a store that sells handguns
3. Purchased “on the street”
4. Borrowed from a friend or someone they know
5. Stolen
6. Other

2. Could you get a handgun if you wanted to?

1. Yes
2. No
3. Don’t know

3. During the past 30 days‚ the last time you carried a handgun‚ from where did you get the handgun?

1. I did not carry a handgun during the past 30 days
2. Parent or other family member’s handgun taken from home
3. Purchased from a store that sells handguns
4. Purchased “on the street”
5. Borrowed from a friend or someone I know
6. Stolen
7. Other

4. Does your school use metal detectors to look for weapons carried by students?

1. Yes
2. No
3. Don’t know

5. Do you think that metal detectors should be used to find weapons carried by students at your school?

1. Yes
2. No
3. Don’t know

6. What is the single most important reason some students carry a weapon such as a gun‚ knife‚ or club?

1. For protection against attacks by other people
2. Because their friends carry weapons
3. Because it makes them feel important
4. To “show off” and impress their friends
5. Because they want to hurt someone
6. Other